All posts in Review

Seriously, there should be a word, preferably in Japanese or German, for when you are too busy to update your blog and then the more you dawdle the more you have to post and then when you finally do get around to it you’re sure you’ve missed out all the important stuff and…

Well, anyway. This year has been kinda crazy – the second half, especially, which featured two US book tours and the release last month of a little book that I kinda love.

When it came out last month, I was a little preoccupied in New York City, sharing the stage at KGB with Chuck Wendig as we toasted not just that book, but the comic we write together, The Shield.

That photo actually comes from the event Chuck and I did in Doylestown, PA, a week later. I seem to have lost most of my pix from NYC, thanks to my computer’s hard drive failing as soon as I got back to the UK. Probably just as well. I’ll see if I can unearth anything for a post about that book tour.

But while I was racing around the East Coast, visiting eight cities and chalking up a lot of airmails, Made to Kill was working hard…

Made to Killis an Indie Next Pick for December! The full list is up at IndieBound, and let’s just say that any list I’m on that also features the likes of Umberto flippin’ Eco is a bit of a Big. Deal.

Genre mash-ups don’t always succeed, but this one will please fans of both gumshoes and laser beams.

SFX Magazine, along with posting a mini-interview with me, and a two-page extract from the book, gave Made to Kill a 5-star review and a rare “SFX Loves” badge, saying:

Made to Kill is book one of a trilogy. We’d happily go for more than three.

In a faultless review, NPR said Made to Kill was a “pulp pastiche that hits the mark”, adding:

Made to Kill is the first installment of a planned trilogy, but it has all the potential of an open-ended series; knowing there are only two more Raymond Electromatic mysteries to come is the book’s only disappointment.

That’s great news, because Christopher has hit on something that I’d hardly suspected before, and now can’t get enough of.

While I was in the US, I did my first ever television interview, for CBS6’s Virginia This Morning, broadcast out of Richmond, VA.

Needless to say, this was a slightly surreal experience (particularly as it involved a 5am flight out of Cincinnati, Ohio, that morning, just to get to the studio on time), but in my caffeine and candy bar fuelled state I managed to talk coherently (I hope!) about Made to Kill and my work on the Elementary tie-in novels.

The full interview is embedded at their website, and can be seen here.

Out today is issue 246 of SFX Magazine – inside of which you will find no fewer than three things either by, or related to… me!

On page 108, Eddie Robson reviews The Burning Dark, awarding four stars and saying it is…

A skillful genre clash, using the furniture of military SF to stage a piece of psychological horror… what lingers at the end is the deeply uncanny quality of a haunted, abandoned space station, and a final sequence of revelations that pay off the tension handsomely.

All I can say it… wow! I love this review to bits!

If that whets your appetite, turn to page 116 for a two-page extract from the book, courtesy of Titan. The extract is an entire chapter, focussing on two of the marines stuck on the space station Coast City.

Following that, on page 118 is my second Book Club feature, this time on the Dragonlance classic, Dragons of Autumn Twilight.

Phew! Seriously, that must be some kind of record for SFX appearances.

One of my favourite books of last year was Save Yourself, by literary wunderkind Kelly Braffet. Save Yourself is dark and beautiful, with a depth of character and elegance of prose that regular schmucks like myself can only dream of achieving.

I was pleased as punch to make Kelly’s acquaintance via Twitter (man, three cheers for social media), and then just a little awestruck when she asked if she could read Hang Wire.

And she did, and this is what she said:

Adam Christopher’s Hang Wire reads like Erin Morgenstern via Tim Powers, but the dark, creepy heart that beats at its center is entirely its own. It’s good unclean fun, and so addictive.

And… wow. I’m speechless, and also very, very grateful to have received such wonderful praise from a writer such as Kelly. That blurbs joins Hang Wire‘s NPR review and starred Booklist review as some of the highlights of my writing career so far.

So if all of that tickles your fancy, come along to the Forbidden Planet Megastore at 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, on Thursday night (6th March) at 6pm for what promises to be an epic double launch of Hang Wire and The Burning Dark. I’ll be reading from both books, and the first 50 people in the door will get a Hang Wire fortune cookie (as seen in the book)! Hidden inside are four spot prizes, including a voucher for the Forbidden Planet store. There will also be jello shots! We were going to serve a wild strawberry liqueur – as seen in The Burning Dark – but it’s a little sweet and very sticky, so to make it safer for the store (sticky fingers on books is a bad idea), we’re making it into something a little easier to handle.

As well as the regular paperback of Hang Wire, the limited edition, numbered hardcover – with gorgeous variant red cover by Kitschies Inky Tentacle winner Will Staehle – will be available for the first time. And not only that, this event will be your chance to grab The Burning Darknearly three whole weeks before it goes on general sale anywhere in the world.

There’s only so much praise you can heap on a book, and I’m going to lay it on thick here. Hang Wire is a damn cool book. It’s the perfect example of deep and well thought-out characterisation, diversification, multi-dimensional plotting, and clever (and at times poetic) writing. Each chapter could easily read as a self-contained short story yet it’s the intrinsically well linked and overlapping plot that binds these gems into a greater beast that dares the reader to tame it – be warned, you can’t… and you’ll love Adam Christopher for it.

You can read the full review here. My thanks to Josh for getting the ball rolling!

Thanks to everyone who came to the UK launch of The Age Atomic last Thursday night at Forbidden Planet – I really appreciated it, particularly considering the snow, and the fact that the Central Line decided to pack up about an hour beforehand. I’ll post some photos later this week, but it was fun! The limited edition hardcovers of The Age Atomic and Empire State are gorgeous – if you snagged one, make sure you take off the dust jacket and check out the foiled spine!

The Age Atomic is a glorious and joyous ode to the pulp science fiction of old. Awesome fun, from start to finish, just straight up, pure entertainment.

There’s also a new interview with me up at My Bookish Ways, where I talk about The Age Atomic, my writing process, and my favourite books. They are also hosting a giveaway for both The Age Atomic and Empire State – you have two days left to enter, and it is open to residents of the US, Canada and Europe. Full details after the interview!

Today is the first P-day for The Age Atomic – if you’re in the US, you can pick up the paperback from the usual spots! If you prefer it in ebook, you can buy it in all territories from today in all the major formats – including as a DRM-free ePub from the Robot Trading Company. You’ll find an updated list of order links here. UK readers who are after a print copy will need to wait until Thursday April 4th… although rumour has it that Amazon.co.uk have stock and are shipping already.

There’s plenty more to come this week and next – including the reveal of the Empire State variant cover for Forbidden Planet’s exclusive limited edition hardback – so stay tuned. Don’t forget the UK launch of The Age Atomic is being held at the Forbidden Planet London megastore on Thursday 4th April at 6pm, where you’ll be able to snag the limited edition hardcover. If you can’t make it, you can still order the hardcover of The Age Atomichere, and the link for the hardcover Empire State will be up shortly.

The Age Atomic is another masterful tale by Adam Christopher. An action-packed noir Atompunk tale with more layers, facettes and twists than one would expect and which keeps the reader enthralled from the first to the last page. Highly recommended reading!

Naturally, I’m over the moon! Thanks so much! Atompunk? I’ll take that!

A nice pre-Christmas surprise – Seven Wonders gets a stonking review over at the Ranting Dragon, who give it 5/5 stars and say:

If you are a fan of comic books and superheroes, Seven Wonders may well be your perfect read. Its grand scale and impressive prose will definitely appeal to anyone who enjoys comics. Its flamboyant action and incredible characters will entertain you for hours. I dare say that—if done well—this may make one of the best film adaptations ever. I would love to see Christopher Nolan or Joss Whedon take a swing at this.

Christopher has written a book that explodes off the page like gamma ray grapeshot. And that’s a good thing. The author’s enthusiasm and commitment to his muse has made superheroes fun again. Mission accomplished. Seven Wonders wins our prize for best novel of 2012.

My book tops a fine list of five novels which includes one of my favourites of 2012, Prepare to Die! by Paul Tobin, and another from Angry Robot, Costume Not Included by Matthew Hughes. Although I’m bound to say it, SuperheroNovels.com really knows their onions, so to be crowned their number 1 novel really means a lot.

Empire State has also been making some more appearances – over at The Eloquent Page, it’s Book of the Month for June 2012 (closing a three-month run for Angry Robot, with Alchemist of Souls by Anne Lyle and Blackbirds by Chuck Wending coming in as books of the month for April and May, respectively).

At Angel of Retribution, Empire State comes in at number 3 on their list of Best Debuts of 2012 – Angry Robot has a strong showing here too, with The Dead of Winter by Lee Collins (#1), Dead Harvest by Chris F. Holm (#5), Pantomime by Laura Lam (#6 – although this Strange Chemistry title is out in February 2013), and The Alchemist of Souls by Anne Lyle (#8) filling out the list.

Forbidden Planet, the mighty retailer of all things wonderful, has released their Best Books of 2012 list, with Empire State in at number 6, among some very heavyweight title and authors indeed. Woot!

And finally, Empire State gets another Italian review over at Space of Entropy. Unfortunately Google’s translation doesn’t really give a good pull-quote, so I’d recommend you check it out for yourself – in short, they liked it a lot! Incidentally, the Italian edition of Empire State is on the way – more information as I have it. I’m dying to show off the cover!

Now, time for a competition! I have one signed copy of the UK paperback edition of Seven Wonders, and one signed 12-CD audiobook of the same. Although I can’t get them to the winners by Christmas, I’ll draw the competition on Christmas Day – all you need to do is to add a comment to this blog post indicating your entry, and my magical random contest plugin will then draw the winners. The first person to be drawn gets the audiobook, the second person to be drawn gets the signed paperback. The competition is open worldwide.

Seven Wonders is a fun read. The setting is entirely believable for a story with superheroes in it, and the book contains the unique tone and flavor fitting for a comic-influenced story line. For readers who like their novels to move fast with unexpected plot turns, Seven Wondersshould be worth the investment.

There’s also another Italian review over at The Plutonia Experiment – Google’s English translator tells me they said:

Adam Christopher wrote what could be considered the perfect novel of superheroes.

Finally, a quick update on my comic debut, The Sentinel. Originally scheduled for the first issue of VS Comics, due out around Christmas, it’s been pushed back until at least February 2013. I’ll keep you updated on progress. You can find VS Comics here, where previews of the first issue are already up.

One more sleep until Chicago. Eeep! I’m off to WorldCon tomorrow – it starts on Thursday, but I’ve got a free day in Chicago beforehand – the same day, coincidentally, that Seven Wonders comes out in the US and in ebook. Eeep, again! So now is the time to put the last pre-orders in – you can find most relavant links here. I’m also told that the limited edition hardcover from Forbidden Planet is selling fast – there are only 100 copies of this, so to make sure you don’t miss out, I’d advise heading over to this link now.

Over at SFBook, Seven Wonders gets four stars, and they say:

The plot itself is inventive and twisting, written in a literary arresting style that is about as close you could ever get to a graphic novel without the graphics. Seven Wonders is the coolest kid on the superhero block, it’s got bags of style, an incredibly rich atmosphere and a cracking story that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat for most of the journey.

Recently I was interviewed by novelist and comics scribe Paul Tobin, in which we talked about my books, writing in general, and comics. You can find the interview here, and I’ll be returning the favour on this blog in a couple of weeks. Paul’s new novel, Prepare to Die!, is out now from Night Shade Books, and I thoroughly recommend it (and my blurb is on the back, alongside Chris Roberson and Kurt Busiek!).

And now: packing for Chicago. Oh boy… while I’m doing that, you can check out my WorldCon schedule here.